The Hon. William Barnard Rhodes, M.L.C., who was for nearly forty years a prominent colonist and politician, was born at Epworth, Lincolnshire, on the 8th of May, 1807. Epworth is a very small place, and principally remarkable on account of its being the birth-place of John Waslev. The population to-day is about two thousand. No wonder that his native town with its slow growth was much too quiet and settled for a man of enterprise, such as the subject of this notice proved himself to be. In the year 1839 Mr. Rhodes came to this Colony, being here before the first of the New Zealand Company's settlers. From that time until his death on the 11th of February, 1878, he was one of the most active colonists Wellington could boast of. As a capitalist he was successful to an extraordinary degree. The Hon. William Barnard Rhodes was the eldest son of Mr. William Rhodes, a Yorkshire man who is said to have been descended from one of the officers who took part in the defence of Pontefract Castle, the last of the royal fortresses to yield to Cromwell, who starved out the inmates, and destroyed the place. The honourable gentleman entered the East India Company's service when very young, and remained at sea till twenty-six years of age, when he took up land in Australia, and soon stocked it with sheep and cattle. After a short time he became anxious to explore New Zealand, and leaving a manager in charge of his property, he took charge of a whaling expedition, of which he was the chief proprietor. The venture proved to be a profitable investment, and Mr. Rhodes was able to visit the various harbours of the Colony. About two years were spent in this way, and large investments were made by him in land in various parts of both islands, including those in and around Timaru and on Banks Peninsula, which Mr. Rhodes stocked with sheep and cattle from Australia. He established and equipped stations at suitable places on his numerous holdings, placing them under the control of capable and trustworthy managers. He then induced his brothers to come to New Zealand, and admitted two of them into partnership with him in his southern properties. Mr. Robert Heaton Rhodes joined him just before the arrival of the first four ships with the Canterbury pilgrims, and Mr. George Rhodes a year or two previously. As Mr. Rhodes' brothers were like himself, energetic clever men, and excellent colonists, they became very successful and wealthy. Their page 256 flocks and herds multiplied enormously, and the lands which they had taken up in a state of nature were in the course of years reduced to a high state of cultivation; thus the Messrs. Rhodes laid the foundation of the handsome fortunes which ultimately fell to their lot. As the tide of settlement swept on, the value of their huge estates increased wonderfully, and many of them were sold at splendid prices; indeed, their whole career was one vast wave of success. The honourable gentleman under notice made his home in Wellington in 1839, and soon became a most successful merchant and the owner of large city properties. Ever ready to advance the interests of the place, Mr. Rhodes was first and foremost in all public matters. He was a member of the Wellington Provincial Council, and in this position he gave great satisfaction to his constituents. He was chosen to represent the city in the first Parliament. At this time Auckland was the seat of Government, but, notwithstanding the difficulties of travelling in those early times, Mr. Rhodes was always regular in his attendance as a member of the House of Representatives for many years. In 1870 the Government of the day, the Fox-McLean Administration, recognising the value of Mr. Rhodes' wisdom on the councils of the Colony, called him to the Upper House, of which he continued a worthy member throughout the remainder of his life. His many services to the Province of Wellington as well as to the Colony as a whole, will not soon be forgotten by his contemporaries. On the 7th of May, 1852, Mr. Rhodes was married to Miss Sarah, daughter of the late Mr. John King, a prominent solicitor and notary public of Wellington. On the 3rd of August, ten years later, this lady died, and Mr. Rhodes married Miss Sarah Anne Moorhouse, daughter of Mr. William Moorhouse, J.P., Knottingley, Yorkshire, and sister of the late Mr. William Sefton Moorhouse, M.H.R., of Christchurch. Many years before his death the honourable gentleman built and prepared the beautiful home so well known as “The Grange,” on the Wadestown road; here Mrs. Rhodes still resides and is known far and wide for her hospitality and liberality in all good works, Miss Rhodes, [unclear: the] only child of the Hon. W. B. Rhodes was married to Mr. Edward Moorhouse, a relative of Mrs. Rhodes. Both wife and daughter were left with handsome fortunes. Mr. Rhodes' maternal ancestors had long resided in the neighbourhood of Epworth. It is recorded that one of his relatives rescued the eminent divine John Wesley when an infant of tender age from the flames which consumed the Epworth Vicarage. On the occasion of a visit of one of Mrs. Rhodes' brothers to the district, a banquet was given in his honour by the townspeople. The local paper, the Axholm Gazette, in discussing, the banquet made pleasant reference to the long and honourable connection of the Rhodes family with that ancient and historic “Isle of Axholm,” as it is called from its being cut off by the river Trent from the county (Lincolnshire), of which it is nevertheless a part, Epworth being its market town. Although the Hon. Mr. Rhodes left no son to perpetuate his name, it is not likely to be forgotten. In the Church of England cemetery a substantial tombstone is erected to his memory. Mrs. Rhodes presented the hour bell (the largest bell that had been cast in the Southern Hemisphere at that time) of the clock page 257 in the Post-office tower, of which the citizens are reminded constantly of the man who not only himself did much for the place in which he lived, but was able to leave his widow in a position to emulate his good example. The view of the harbour and city obtainable from “The Grange” is perhaps the best of a great many good ones.